CHAPTER XXIX.

GEORGIA.

GEORGIA, the thirteenth American colony, was founded in a spirit

of pure benevolence. The laws of England permitted imprisonment for debt. Thousands of English laborers, who through misfortune and thoughtless contracts had become indebted to the rich, were annually arrested and thrown into jail. There were desolate and starving families. The miserable condition of the debtor class at last attracted the attention of Parliament. In 1728 a commissioner was appointed, at his own request, to look into the state of the poor, to visit the prisons of the kingdom, and to report measures of relief. The work was accomplished, the jails were opened, and the poor victims of debt returned to their homes.

The noble commissioner was not yet satisfied. For the liberated prisoners and their friends were disheartened and disgraced in the country of their birth. Was there no land beyond the sea where debt was not a crime, and where poverty was no disgrace? To provide a refuge for the down-trodden poor of England and the distressed Protestants of other countries, the commissioner now appealed to George II. for the privilege of planting a colony in America. The petition was favorably heard, and on the 9th of June, 1732, a royal charter was issued by which the territory between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers, and westward from the upper fountains of those rivers to the Pacific, was organized and granted to a corporation for twenty-one years, to be held in trust for the poor. In honor of the king, the new province received the name of GEORGIA. But what was the name of that high-souled, unselfish commissioner of Parliament?

James Oglethorpe, the philanthropist. Born a loyalist, educated at Oxford, a High Churchman, a cavalier, a soldier, a member of Parliament, `benevolent, generous, full of sympathy, far-sighted, brave as John Smith, chivalrous as De Soto, Oglethorpe gave in middle life the full energies of a vigorous body and a lofty mind to the work of building in the sunny South an asylum for the oppressed of his own and other lands. The magnanimity of the enterprise was heightened by the fact that he did not believe in the equality of men, but only in the right and duty of the strong to protect the weak and sympathize with the lowly. To Oglethorpe, as

principal member of the corporation, the leadership of the first colony to be planted on the banks of the Savannah, was naturally entrusted.

By the mid

dle of November a hundred and twenty emigrants were ready to sail for the New World. Oglethorpe, like the elder Winthrop, determined to share the dangers and hardships of his colony. In January of 1733 the company was welcomed at Charleston. Passing down the coast, the vessels were anchored for a short time at Beaufort, while the governor with a few companions ascended the bound

ary river of Georgia, and selected as the site of his settlement the high bluff on which now stands the city of Savannah. Here, on the 1st day of February, were laid the foundations of the oldest English town south of the Savannah River. Broad streets were laid out; a public square was reserved in each quarter; a beautiful village of tents and board houses, built among the pine trees, appeared as the capital of a new commonwealth where men were not imprisoned for debt.

Tomo-chichi, chief of the Yamacraws, came from his cabin, half a mile distant, to see his brother Oglethorpe. There was a pleasant conference. "Here is a present for you," said the red man to the white man. The present was a buffalo robe painted on the inside with the head and feathers of an eagle. "The feathers are soft, and signify love; the buffalo skin is the emblem of protection. Therefore love us and protect us," said the old chieftain. Such a plea could not be lost on a man like Oglethorpe. Seeing the advantages of peace, he sent an invitation to the chiefs

of the Muskhogees to meet him in a general council at his capital. The conference was held on the 29th of May. Long King, the sachem of Oconas, spoke for all the tribes of his nation. The English were welcomed to the country. Bundles of buckskins, and such other good gifts as savage civilization could offer, were laid down plentifully at the feet of the whites. The governor and his poor but generous colony responded with valuable presents and words of faithful friendship. The fame of Oglethorpe spread far and wide among the Red men. From the distant mountains of Tennessee came the noted chief of the Cherokees to confer with the humane and sweet-tempered governor of Georgia.

The councilors in England who managed the affairs of the new State encouraged emigration with every liberal offer. Swiss peasants left their mountains to find a home on the Savannah. The plaid cloak of the Scotch Highlander was seen among the wigwams of the Muskhogees. From distant Salzburg, afar on the borders of Austria, came a noble colony of German Protestants, singing their way down the Rhine and across the ocean. Oglethorpe met them at Charleston, bade them welcome, led them to Savannah and thence through the woods to a point twenty miles up the river, told them of English rights and the freedom of conscience, and left them to found the village of Ebenezer.

In April of 1734, Governor Oglethorpe made a visit to England. His friend Tomo-chichi went with him, and made the acquaintance of King George. It was said in London that no colony was ever before founded so wisely and well as Georgia. The councilors prohibited the importation of rum. Traffic with the Indians-always a dangerous matter-was either interdicted or regulated by special license. When it came to the question of labor, slavery was positively forbidden. It was said that the introduction of slaves would be fatal to the interests of the English and German laborers for whom the colony had been founded. While the governor was still abroad, the first company of Moravians, numbering nine, and led by the evangelist Spangenberg, arrived at Savannah.

In February of 1736, Oglethorpe himself came back with a new colony of three hundred. Part of these were Moravians, and nearly all were people of deep piety and fervent spirit. First among them-first in zeal and first in the influence which he was destined to exert in after times-was the celebrated John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Overflowing with religious enthusiasm, he came to Georgia, not as a politician, not as a minister merely, but as an apostle. To lead the people to righteousness, to spread the gospel, to convert the Indians, and to introduce a new type of religion characterized by few forms and much emotion, these were the purposes that thronged his lofty fancy. He was

doomed to much disappointment. The mixed people of the new province could not be moulded to his will; and after a residence of less than two years he left the colony with a troubled spirit. His brother, Charles Wesley, came also as a secretary to Governor Oglethorpe; but Charles was a poet, a timid and tender-hearted man who pined with homesickness and gave way under discouragement. But when, in 1738, the famous George Whitefield came, his robust and daring nature proved a match for all the troubles of the wilderness. He preached with fiery eloquence. To build an orphan-house at Savannah he went through all the colonies; and those who heard his voice could hardly refuse him money. Thinking no longer of native land, he found a peaceful grave in New England. Meanwhile, Oglethorpe was busy with the affairs of his growing province. Anticipating war with Spain, he began to fortify. For the Spaniards were in possession of Florida, and claimed the country as far north as St. Helena Sound. All of Georgia was thus embraced in the Spanish claim. But Oglethorpe had a charter for Georgia as far south as the Altamaha, and he had secured by treaty with the Indians all the territory between that river and the St. Mary's. In 1736 he ascended the Savannah and built a fort at Augusta. On the north bank of the Altamaha, twelve miles from its mouth, Fort Darien was built. On Cumberland Island, at the mouth of the St. Mary's, a fortress was erected and named Fort William. Proceeding down the coast with a company of Highlanders, the daring governor reached the mouth of the St. John's, and on Amelia Island built still another fort, which he named St. George. The river St. John's was claimed from this time forth as the southern boundary of Georgia. To make his preparations complete, the governor again visited England, and was commissioned as brigadier-general, with a command extending over his own province and South Carolina. In October of 1737 he returned to Savannah, bringing with him a regiment of six hundred men. Such were the vigorous measures adopted by Oglethorpe in anticipation of a Spanish war.

The war came. It was that conflict known in American history as King George's War. England published her declaration of hostility against Spain in the latter part of October, 1739. In the first week of the following January the impetuous Oglethorpe, at the head of the Georgia militia, made a dash into Florida, and captured two fortified towns of the Spaniards. His plans embraced the conquest of St. Augustine and the entire extinction of Spanish authority north of the Gulf of Mexico. Repairing to Charleston, he induced the assembly to support his measures. By the first of May he found himself in command of six hundred regular troops, four hundred volunteers and a body of Indian auxiliaries. With

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this force he proceeded at once against St. Augustine. The place was strongly fortified, and the Spanish commandant, Monteano, was a man of ability and courage. The siege continued for five weeks, but ended in disaster to the English. For a while the town was successfully blockaded; but some Spanish galleys, eluding the vigilance of Oglethorpe's

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Augusta

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Charleston

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Ebenezer

Savannah

Darien

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St. Catharines Id

Id.

Frederic

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COUNTRY OF THE SAVANNAH, 1740.

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squadron, brought a cargo of supplies to the garrison. The Spaniards made a sally, attacked a company of Highlanders, and dispersed them. Sickness prevailed in the English camp. The general himself was enfeebled with fever and excitement, but he held on like a hero. The troops of Carolina, disheartened and despairing of success, left their camp and marched homeward. The English vessels gathered up their crews, abandoned the siege and returned to Frederica. Oglethorpe, yielding only to necessity, collected his men from the trenches and withdrew into Georgia.

The Spaniards now determined to carry the war northward and drive the English beyond the Savannah. The Combahee River should be made the northern boundary of Florida. Preparations began on a vast scale. A pow

erful fleet of thirty-six vessels, carrying more than three thousand troops, was brought from Cuba, and anchored at St. Augustine. In June of 1742 the squadron passed up the coast to Cumberland Island, and attempted the reduction of Fort William. But Oglethorpe by a daring exploit reinforced the garrison, and then fell back to Frederica. The Spanish vessels followed and came to anchor in the harbor of St. Simon's. From the southern point of the island to Frederica, Oglethorpe had cut a road which at one place lay between a morass and a dense forest. Along this path the Spaniards must pass to attack the town. The English general had only eight hundred men and a few Indian allies. In order to cope with superior numbers, Oglethorpe resorted to stratagem.

A Frenchman had deserted to the Spaniards. To him the English general now wrote a letter as if to a spy. A Spanish prisoner in Oglethorpe's hands was liberated and bribed to deliver the letter to the deserter. The Frenchman was advised that two British fleets were coming